Deans proud of fighting spirit

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans was full of praise for the character his side showed in their tense victory over the Springboks in Perth.

The home side had to fight back in the second half to claim the all-important victory – their first of the Rugby Championship following consecutive losses to the All Blacks and Deans was in no doubt as to the importance of the win.

"I'm very proud of what they've done, it was a significant win," he said.

Australia found themselves trailing 13-6 at the half-time break, but they came back strongly in the second half, and Deans said that the character that they showed to outscore the Boks 20-6 in the second half was particularly encouraging.

The Wallabies coach admitted that his team had been put under territorial pressure by the visitors, and pointed to the breakdown as a key area in his team's resurgence.

"Yeah we struggled to get out of our end and we contributed a large part to that but I’m proud of the way they came back from behind three times.

"We spent a bit longer tonight with the ball and ran some good lines on both sides of the breakdown, which is the key when playing the Springboks.

"They make your life very difficult because these blokes tackle with pride," he said.

Deans said that the Wallabies will wait for the results of a scan on captain Will Genia's knee before confirming the extent of what appears to be a serious injury.

"We don't know about Will Genia, he'll have a scan tonight but at this stage we don't know anything," he said.